Coronavirus: 'NHS Knittingale' to raise money for hospitals

Margaret Seaman and her daughter Tricia Wilson in front of a previous project of Great Yarmouth seafront

A fundraiser is using her knitting needles to give hospital charities a cash injection with her latest creation - NHS Knittingale.

The woollen hospital Margaret Seaman is knitting will boast an A&E department, cafe and visiting rooms, and be the size of a double bed when complete.

The 91-year-old has previously knitted Great Yarmouth seafront and Sandringham House to raise money.

"I wanted to do something to help," said Mrs Seaman of Caister, Norfolk.

NHS Knittingale will have wards, an X-Ray department and a cafe when complete

She has been knitting every day since 1 April and said the project - modelled on the emergency Nightingale hospitals - was now "well over half done".

Three wards are already complete, as well as visiting rooms and knitted patients.

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Mrs Seaman said her next tasks were to complete the gardens and car parks, the emergency department and the cafe.

Knitted nurses check in on patients in one of the many wards

She estimated she has used more than 20 balls of wool, as well as using up her stock of "bits and pieces" accumulated over the years.

A fundraising page has been set for donations, and Mrs Seaman plans to display the finished hospital after lockdown, while she is also considering auctioning it.

The money will be shared between three Norfolk hospitals, with nearly £1,700 pledged already.

Her daughter Tricia Wilson, 72, said the home they share had been taken over by the project.

"It's everywhere - in every room, on the floor, my bedroom, her bedroom," she said.

"But my mum likes to do things properly and she doesn't care how long it takes."

Mrs Seaman said she was pleased to be able to help in the efforts against coronavirus.

"It's keeping me busy and means I don't get bored at home all day," she added.